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Choosing a Payment Gateway [Part 1]

You may think that online businesses are very different than brick-and-mortar businesses, but you might be surprised at how similar the two business types are.

Both have to worry about regulation and tax issues. Both must fight to have their message reach their target client at just the right time. Both have to accept payment in a way that’s convenient and secure for their client.

In a brick-and-mortar shop, this is typically done through a cash register and a credit card reader. The payment gateway is the online version of a cash register. Having an online business and the needed payment gateway comes with its own set of issues, including things like support, data security and integration with an online storefront.

Data Security

You can’t go a single day without hearing about some sort of data breach, whether it’s a friend, a relative or a major retailer. It is crucial that your company, and anyone else who might handle your customers’ personal financial data, keep data security as a high priority. Finding gateways, merchant processors and full-service billing companies that are PCI-compliant is crucial to your security strategy.

Payment Methods

While you probably are expecting to take the most common credit cards like VISA, MasterCard and American Express, you might be missing the opportunity to acquire a growing group of clients that prefer to pay with less traditional methods like debit cards and even Paypal. These two methods are very popular, but processing transactions with these methods is completely different from processing a credit card. If you want to offer this to your customers, you’ll need to choose a gateway that offers these as an option.

In parts 2 and 3 of this series, I’ll discuss the importance of choosing the proper level of customer support, and controlling costs.

Looking for a secure, reliable payment gateway? We can help. Call 267.287.1035 to learn more.

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Rick Ellis is a Business Development Executive with over 20 years’ experience operating a membership based company. Rick has experienced firsthand the types of unique challenges present when using a recurring billing business model. Rick enjoys working through complex business models to find and leverage every opportunity to optimize profit, and reduce risk. 

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